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Cultural Heritage

With air temperature at -17 degrees Celsius and water at 1 degree Celsius, Finns take a dip in an unfrozen hole of water after a sauna session in Vaasa, Finland.

Covid-19

What Americans Can Learn From Winter-Loving Cultures

With large indoor gatherings off-limits, the Covid-19 pandemic is giving everyone more reason to stay outside

Xanthia DeBerry, with her daughters Angelica and Aniaya, is part of the seed saving project.

New Project Aims to Revive Ozark Cuisine Through Seeds

St. Louis chef Rob Connoley looks to reconnect black farmers to heritage crops, using records from a 19th century seed store

A Stonewall Jackson statue is loaded on a truck after being removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, on July 1.

Mellon Foundation Pledges $250 Million to Reinvent America’s Monuments

The organization’s five-year campaign will support the creation of new public works and the reimagining of ones already standing

A replica statue of Atlas at the Temple of Zeus in Agrigento, Sicily

A Colossal Statue of Atlas Will Rise Again

Sicily’s Temple of Zeus once featured 38 giant likenesses of the mythological Titan. Now, a reassembled version is set to go on view

The mud-brick buildings of Djenné, Mali, are among six at-risk African heritage sites spotlighted by a new study.

Study Suggests At-Risk African Heritage Sites Are Often Overlooked

Researchers cite a “total lack of quantifiable data on the impacts of climate change on heritage in sub-Saharan Africa”

People enjoy a picnic at the Zeytiburna coastline in Istanbul, Turkey, on August 23, 2020.

How Do People Picnic Around the Globe?

Outdoor dining is having a moment. Let these traditions from eight different places help you put together the ultimate open-air meal

The vast trench dug by treasure hunters is visible at the center of this image.

Treasure Hunters Destroy 2,000-Year-Old Heritage Site in Sudan

Illegal gold diggers dug an enormous trench at Jabal Maragha in the eastern Sahara Desert

On August 18, 2020, flood waters threatened the Leshan Giant Buddha following heavy rains in Leshan in China's southwestern Sichuan province, where thousands of residents have been displaced by rising waters.

Flooding Endangers World’s Largest Buddha Statue

Rising waters in China dampened the toes of the Leshan Giant Buddha for the first time since 1949

Police discovered a total of 13 Roman amphorae and an 18th-century anchor inside a frozen seafood shop in Alicante, Spain.

Cool Finds

Police Confiscate Roman Amphorae Found Stashed in Spanish Seafood Shop

The store owner’s son allegedly discovered the 13 clay vessels on fishing trips and brought them back as decorations

Aerial view of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia

Turkey Controversially Converts Hagia Sophia From Museum Into Mosque

The move has attracted criticism from Unesco, Pope Francis, the Russian Orthodox Church and others

Marta Martínez interviews a local resident for her oral history project.

Covid-19

How Oral History Projects Are Being Stymied by COVID-19

As the current pandemic ravages minority communities, historians are scrambling to continue work that preserves cultural heritage

Our Stories students gather at Maunakea with kūpuna Calvin Hoe (center).

In Hawai’i, Young Storytellers Document the Lives of Their Elders

Through a Smithsonian program, students filmed a climactic moment in the protests over the building of a controversial observatory

Vendors at the Queens Night Market represent more than 90 countries.

Virtual Travel

Sample the World’s Cuisines With This Cookbook From a Popular New York Market

The Queens Night Market’s new guide brings the international flavors of the city’s boroughs into your home

On April 22, 1970, a local community rose up after many unwanted intrusions into their neighborhood, including the building of the I-5 freeway. Today, Chicano Park with its monumental murals is a National Historic Landmark.

Fifty Years Ago, Fed Up With the City’s Neglect, a San Diego Community Rose Up to Create Chicano Park

Making Tierra Mía, says the director of the Smithsonian Latino Center, proved transformative in giving voice to the people

A pickup truck collided with a moai statue and platform on Eastern Island.

After Truck Topples Easter Island Statue, Mayor Calls for Traffic Restrictions

The incident, which happened over the weekend, remains under investigation but may have involved faulty brakes

The exhibition presents the possibility that 3-D models (above: a digital rendering of Aleppo following the 2012 civil war in Syria), and the information extracted from them can be used for future restoration projects.

Take a Walk Through These War-Torn Ancient Cities

An immersive exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery uses technology to reconstruct historically significant sites in Mosul, Aleppo and Palmyra

The moai at Easter island, built by the Rapa Nui people

New Research Rewrites the Demise of Easter Island

Yet another spate of evidence suggests the Rapa Nui people were going strong long after Europeans first arrived in 1722

The Moai sculptures on Rapa Nui are at risk of collapsing into the ocean as coastal erosion continues.

New Tool Tracks Climate Change’s Impact on World Heritage Sites

The online portal showcases the craggy cliffs surrounding Edinburgh Castle, Easter Island’s famed sculptures and other cultural heritage hotspots

A sculpture of two bulls, originally carved in the second century A.D., looted from Afghanistan's Kabul Museum almost 30 years ago

After 30 Years, Looted Kushan Bull Sculpture Will Return to Afghanistan’s Kabul Museum

The artifact is one of thousands left destroyed, damaged or missing after civil war broke out in the 1990s

Blazes at Budj Bim National Park in southeastern Australia unearthed a previously unknown channel.

Cool Finds

Australian Bushfires Reveal Hidden Sections of Ancient Aquaculture System

The eel-farming system of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is older than both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids

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